terça-feira, 2 de junho de 2015

His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke, Patronus of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, was present for Vespers in our church for the Order. St Philip's Day with HE Cardinal Burke

Vespers for the Order of Malta

Last Wednesday, His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke, Patronus of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, was present for Vespers in our church for the Order.

His Eminence had earlier in the day met members of the Companions of the Order of Malta, who do wonderful work in Oxford with their homeless Shower Project, soup runs, visiting the sick and elderly and other corporal works of mercy. Cardinal Burke was greatly impressed by the Companions and warmly encouraged them in the twofold ministry of the Order of Malta: the care of the poor and the defence of the Faith.

The Vespers was that of the Octave of Pentecost, and the four coped cantors were an Oratorian, a Jesuit, a Benedictine and a Dominican - which sounds like the beginning of a joke about going into a bar, but here is a manifestation of the rich variety of Catholic life in this city.

After Vespers, the Cardinal gave Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, before going on to deliver a lecture at the University Chaplaincy on "The Legacy of Pope Benedict XVI".

We were honoured to welcome His Eminence Cardinal Burke to our Church to celebrate a Solemn Pontifical Mass for the feast of Our Holy Father St Philip, in the 5th centenary of his birth.We were joined by many friends and visitors, including the Rt Rev. Hugh Allan O.Praem., Prior of the Norbertine community in Chelmsford, and many local clergy and Knights of Malta.In his sermon, the Cardinal encouraged each one of us to take St Philip as an example of how to transform the world in Christ. His full sermon can be read here.The Archbishop very kindly leant us Bishop Ullathorne's crozier for the Cardinal to use.On Wednesday, Fr Daniel took the Cardinal on a tour of Oxford. Here he is pictured next to the bust of Blessed John Henry Newman in Trinity College.